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Masaya Volcano National Park

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scooby
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4 out of 5
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3
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Editor Pick

Volcan Masaya National Park

  • April 15, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by lophius from Santa Elena, Costa Rica
Volcan Masaya National Park

I loved Granada, but by the third day I needed a break from the crowds of the city. Fortunately, there is an active volcano less than an hour away! There are multiple outfits that have a "Volcan Masaya" tour package. The prices from Granada were $20-25 USD, which included transportation, a guide, and a stop in the market area of Masaya. But, if you are feeling a bit more adventurous, prefer a more open schedule, and enjoy a lot of walking, you can do all of that on your own for about $7, and I guarantee the experience will be all the richer for it! I caught an Express Bus to Managua from the station just south of the Central Park. The bus costs 18 cordobas ($1), and takes about 35 minutes to get to the Park. After being dropped off at the Park Entrance, I walked up to the gate and paid the entrance fee of 70 cordobas (~$4). This is where the walking begins! The Park Visitor's Center is a comfortable 1.5 km (~1 mile) walk from the Gate. Once there, check out the five different educational rooms to learn about the science of volcanoes (plate tectonics, magma, etc.), the area’s biodiversity, the cultural history from pre-Columbian peoples to the present, and more. From here, you can take a shuttle ride up to the crater, or you can walk. If you're in decent shape, I'd recommend the latter, but definitely bring a couple bottles of water. It is only 4 km (2.4 miles) each way, but on a sunny day you're going to feel it! The walk takes some time, but along the way you can see things you'd miss from a car or shuttle. I stopped in awe of the extensive fields of jagged lava from an eruption in the 1700s, took photos of various plants that have colonized the area since the last eruption, heard and saw many birds, and a large iguana that ran off much faster than I thought possible! Once you arrive at the top, you can walk right up to the Santiago Crater (the one that is currently active) and peer down into an enormous hole into the earth. The day I visited, it was spewing forth an impressive exhalation of gases and steam. Not only would I occasionally get a whiff of the gases, but I could actually hear the rumbling from below! It’s easy to imagine why the pre-Columbian peoples believed that the eruptions were signs of anger from the gods. To appease them, they would offer sacrifices that sometimes included small children and maidens. Later, the Spanish Conquistitors placed a large, wooden cross on the crater lip in an attempt to exorcise the Devil from "La Boca del Infierno", or Mouth of Hell, and it's still there! While up there, I also did the short hike up to the inactive Masaya crater to see the revegetation that has taken place over the past few hundred years.

From journal Three Days in Granada

Editor Pick

Masaya Volcano National Park

  • November 16, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Baudet from Blue Ridge, Georgia

The Vulcan Masaya is one of the few active volcanoes in the world that you can walk right up to the edge of. The Masaya is nicknamed the Crater of Fire. To get there, take a bus from Granada to Masaya for five cordobas. From the Masaya bus station, take a cab, $10, to the top of the Masaya Volcano. You can either send the taxi back down, or they will wait on you for a total of $20 for the whole trip. When you go through the park entrance, you pay the parking fee of $4, and the attendant gives you a map of the park. You also have the option to pay $6 to camp at the volcano.

Masaya Volcano National Park has several trails, a bat cave, and three craters: Santiago, San Fernando, and San Pedro. Out of the three craters, the Santiago is the only active one; it last erupted in 2003. The others have been dormant long enough for trees and vegetation to grow in them. There are several bird species that inhabit the park. They have somehow adapted to the toxic gases coming from the Santiago Crater, such that they have no predators atop the Masaya. The bat cave measures 100 meters and was formed when lava under pressure was pushed upward from the Santiago Crater. The trails are from one to four-and-a-half kilometers, depending on how long of a hike you want. Most of the landscape around the Santiago looks barren and almost dead from the lava flows of the 2003 eruption

The Masaya National Park is a great place to spend the day or even the night. There are plenty of things to do and attractions to see. You can easily spend a whole day here and not see everything there is to see. This is definitely the one thing you can’t miss out on in Nicaragua. For more information on the volcano and the park, visit www.nps.gov/centralamerica/Nicaragua.

From journal Volcanic Paradise of Central America

Masaya

  • November 9, 2000
  • Rated 3 of 5 by scooby from Brooklyn, New York
There is everything in this gigantic maze. This is the best place to buy a hammock, or really anything else you might need. Big hunks of cheese, tripe, american t-shirts, household products, and bikes. I got a watch for $1.50 that has actually lasted almost a month. There is also the old market down the street which is no good for bargains but the architecture is cool. It looks like an old castle.

From journal Whatalotta Granada

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